Racing the Computer Battery . . .

Strange title?  Not when you realize that part of my laptop cord is frayed and it isn’t working anymore.  Thankfully, I ordered a new one last week and it’s sitting on my desk at work.  Doesn’t help me now, though, so I’m racing to get this finished before the computer dies.  I figure I’ll wear this space out this week with scenes from the Stamping Gala in our store.  So on your mark . . .

We are in Novi, Michigan this weekend.  If you read my post from last August, this will be similar.  The date changes, but many of the scenes remain the same . . .

Though seriously out of focus – I was shooting pics on the run just before the show opened.  This was the scene just inside the front door about three minutes before the show opened.

Two more seriously out of focus shots looking down the hallway just outside the entrance to the hall.  That line went way down that hallway.  The entrance to the building was about where that red car was, so folks were coming in and turning away from their destination.

Inside, as the show opens at 10:00 and the crowd starts to swell up the aisle.  Same stroller in both shots – that’s Noelle from Toomuchfun, pushing her baby sister around.

The look in our booth about two minutes later.  We had a very limited supply of Spellbinders’ brand new dies and we knew they wouldn’t be there long.  So Robin and Keia Arnold were positioned (almost looked like auctioneers) to keep everything orderly.  That’s Keia with her arm up on both shots (you can see Robin’s head just below Keia’s hand in the right photo).  They started working at shows with us in Michigan and Indiana when Keia was in junior high – she’s a sophomore in college now.

Keia did get a break later in the day to help Jesse from Stamp on It play nursemaid for the Toomuchfun munchkin . . .

Once things calmed down a little bit, the Rubber Stamp Tapestry enthusiasts got to look at the new sets (eight of them) that we just got this week.

Fifty feet of fun again this weekend with three demos.  Sue Nelson from Heartprints.net has been with us in Novi for 11 years.  She has found so many new items for us over the years and is responsible for getting those new Spellbinders dies offered to us by Stacey Caron.  And Sue Rothamel from USArtQuest is on her home turf as well – she lives about 40 minutes away.

But this was the first time “Tweety Jill” Haglund had flown north for the Michigan crowd.  Jill brought her daughter Lindsay along, and they had a line all day for their make it/take it.

Giveaway time.  I always think it’s funny when someone holds up a camera to take a picture of me taking a picture of her (or vice versa).  And some familiar faces always seem to make their way into the shots . . .

The giveaways are our way of saying thank you.  You folks do us a favor every time you stop into our booth, and we appreciate it.

After the show, we drove out to Rothamel’s, where Sue’s husband Dave had the grill going strong.  I posted shots of their place last year, but I had missed the view on either side of their driveway right out at the road.

And this was a shot into their field as I walked back to the truck just as the sun was setting.  Yes, that’s a deer right at the edge of those trees.  Wasn’t sure it was real at first – it didn’t move for a long time.  Then it finally bounded off.

And this shot was just funny.  I picked Jill and Lindsay up at the airport in the truck (that’s how I get around at shows), and dropped them off back at the hotel Saturday after the show.  They were enthralled with the idea of riding in a “big rig” and wanted a picture to show the folks back home (obviously, to truckers this “big rig” hardly qualifies).  Thankfully, the shot I took with their camera was better than the one I shot with mine.  Sorry Jill . . .

Made it before the battery died.  Whew . . .